"Between 900 and 1,100 loaves of bread were used every 24 hours and the restaurant was open 24 hours a day. On a Carnival Day over 3000 loaves of bread were used."- Bennie Martin

"We fed those men free of charge until the strike ended. Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming, one of us would say, 'Here comes another poor boy.'" - Bennie Martin

Poor boy sandwiches represent bedrock New Orleans. The shotgun house of New Orleans cuisine, po-boys are familiar but satisfying. The sandwich is as diverse as the city it symbolizes. The crisp loaves have served as a culinary crossroads, encasing the most pedestrian and exotic of foods: shrimp, oyster, catfish, soft-shell crabs as well as French fries and ham and cheese. Comfort food in other cities seldom reaches such heights.

Close-up of 1932 poor boyCourtesy of Martin Family

Martin Brothers Lettercourtesy of Special Collections, Tulane University

Written by Michael Mizell-Nelson. Design by Becky Cierpich/C4 Tech & Design. Production thanks to New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival and Oak Street-Main Street. Join us on Oak Street for the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival every November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Visit us on the web: www.poboyfest.org.

Michael Mizell-Nelson teaches in the University of New Orleans history department. He also oversees the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank project, an online database documenting the impact of Katrina and Rita upon the Gulf Coast: www.hurricanearchive.org.

History New Orleans

Po-Boy

John Gendusa Bakery, Touro StreetCourtesy of John Gendusa

Interior of Martin Brothers' original location, French Market, early 1920sCourtesy of Martin Family

Martin Brothers Poor Boy Tiles in front of St. Claude Avenue Restaurant entrancePhotograph by Cathe Mizell-Nelson, 1995

As with many culinary innovations, the poor

boy has attracted many legends regarding its

origins. However, documentary evidence

confirms that your grandparents’ stories

about one particular restaurant were right.

Bennie and Clovis Martin left their Race-

land, Louisiana, home in the Acadiana

region in the mid-1910s for New Orleans.

Both worked as streetcar conductors until

they opened Martin Brothers Coffee Stand

and Restaurant in the French Market in

1922. The years they had spent working as

streetcar operators and members of the

street railway employees’ union would even-

tually lead to their hole-in-the-wall coffee

stand becoming the birthplace of the poor

boy sandwich.

Following increasingly heated contract

negotiations, the streetcar motormen and

conductors struck beginning July 1, 1929.

The survival of the carmen’s union and 1,100

jobs was in question. Transit strikes

throughout the nation provoked emotional

displays of public support, and the 1929

strike ranks among the nation’s most

violent.

When the company attempted to run the

cars on July 5 using “strike breakers” (career

criminals brought in from New York) brick-

bats and jeering crowds stopped them. More

than 10,000 New Orleanians gathered

downtown and watched strike supporters

disable and then burn the first car operated

by a strike breaker.

A highly sympathetic public participated in greatest numbers by avoiding the transit system, which remained shut down for two weeks. Former New Orleans Fire Depart-ment Superintendent William McCrossen experienced the strike as a teenager: “Dare not—nobody, nobody would ride the street-cars. Number one, they were for the carmen. Number two, there was a danger [in riding the cars].” Brickbats greeted the few street-cars that ran. Small and large businesses donated goods and services to the union local.

The many support letters included one from the Martin Brothers promising, “Our meal is free to any members of Division 194.” Their letter concluded, “We are with you till h--l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm.” In order to maintain their promise, the Martins

provided large sandwiches to the strikers.

Bennie Martin said, “We fed those men free

of charge until the strike ended. Whenever

we saw one of the striking men coming, one

of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor

boy.’”

The traditional French bread’s narrowed

ends meant that much of each loaf was

wasted, so the Martins worked with baker

John Gendusa to develop a 40-inch loaf of

bread that retained its uniform, rectangular

shape from end to end. This innovation

allowed for half-loaf sandwiches 20 inches

in length as well as a 15-inch standard and

smaller ones. The original poor boy sand-

wiches offered the same fillings as had been

served on French bread loaves before the

strike, but the size was startlingly new.

By the start of the Great Depression, the

carmen had lost the strike and their jobs.

The continuing generosity of the Martins as

well as the size of the sandwiches proved to

be a wise business decision that earned them

renown and hundreds of new customers.

In 1931, the restaurant relocated to the 2000

block of St. Claude Avenue—just two blocks

from Gendusa Bakery. A couple of years

later they expanded their building into a

much larger restaurant with an attached

billiards hall. As the Depression worsened,

many New Orleanians enjoyed the opportu-

nity to feed themselves or their families

using the famously oversized poor boy sand-

wiches.

Clovis and Bennie parted ways by the late 1930s. Bennie held onto the St. Claude loca-tion, and Clovis developed several other restaurants throughout the city known as Martin and Son Poor Boy Bar and Restau-rant. Their locations on Gentilly and Airline Highways lasted the longest. Clovis died in 1955, and Martin Brother’s St. Claude restaurant survived into the 1970s. By then the sandwich name had spread far beyond New Orleans.

"You could get a sandwich anywhere, but you could only get a poor boy at Martin Brothers." - Former Fire Superintendent William McCrossen

"Our Meal is free to any members of Division 194. . . . We are with you till h--l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm."- Bennie and Clovis Martin

Strike Supporters destroy streetcar, Canal Street, 1929 Courtesy of Gendusa Family

1930s Prices15-inch standard: 10 cents 20-inch half-loaf sandwich: 15 cents Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich: Free

Martin Brothers more famous location,corner of Touro & St. Claude, 1932Courtesy of Martin Family

As with many culinary innovations, the poor

boy has attracted many legends regarding its

origins. However, documentary evidence

confirms that your grandparents’ stories

about one particular restaurant were right.

Bennie and Clovis Martin left their Race-

land, Louisiana, home in the Acadiana

region in the mid-1910s for New Orleans.

Both worked as streetcar conductors until

they opened Martin Brothers Coffee Stand

and Restaurant in the French Market in

1922. The years they had spent working as

streetcar operators and members of the

street railway employees’ union would even-

tually lead to their hole-in-the-wall coffee

stand becoming the birthplace of the poor

boy sandwich.

Following increasingly heated contract

negotiations, the streetcar motormen and

conductors struck beginning July 1, 1929.

The survival of the carmen’s union and 1,100

jobs was in question. Transit strikes

throughout the nation provoked emotional

displays of public support, and the 1929

strike ranks among the nation’s most

violent.

When the company attempted to run the

cars on July 5 using “strike breakers” (career

criminals brought in from New York) brick-

bats and jeering crowds stopped them. More

than 10,000 New Orleanians gathered

downtown and watched strike supporters

disable and then burn the first car operated

by a strike breaker.

A highly sympathetic public participated in greatest numbers by avoiding the transit system, which remained shut down for two weeks. Former New Orleans Fire Depart-ment Superintendent William McCrossen experienced the strike as a teenager: “Dare not—nobody, nobody would ride the street-cars. Number one, they were for the carmen. Number two, there was a danger [in riding the cars].” Brickbats greeted the few street-cars that ran. Small and large businesses donated goods and services to the union local.

The many support letters included one from the Martin Brothers promising, “Our meal is free to any members of Division 194.” Their letter concluded, “We are with you till h--l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm.” In order to maintain their promise, the Martins

provided large sandwiches to the strikers.

Bennie Martin said, “We fed those men free

of charge until the strike ended. Whenever

we saw one of the striking men coming, one

of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor

boy.’”

The traditional French bread’s narrowed

ends meant that much of each loaf was

wasted, so the Martins worked with baker

John Gendusa to develop a 40-inch loaf of

bread that retained its uniform, rectangular

shape from end to end. This innovation

allowed for half-loaf sandwiches 20 inches

in length as well as a 15-inch standard and

smaller ones. The original poor boy sand-

wiches offered the same fillings as had been

served on French bread loaves before the

strike, but the size was startlingly new.

By the start of the Great Depression, the

carmen had lost the strike and their jobs.

The continuing generosity of the Martins as

well as the size of the sandwiches proved to

be a wise business decision that earned them

renown and hundreds of new customers.

In 1931, the restaurant relocated to the 2000

block of St. Claude Avenue—just two blocks

from Gendusa Bakery. A couple of years

later they expanded their building into a

much larger restaurant with an attached

billiards hall. As the Depression worsened,

many New Orleanians enjoyed the opportu-

nity to feed themselves or their families

using the famously oversized poor boy sand-

wiches.

Clovis and Bennie parted ways by the late 1930s. Bennie held onto the St. Claude loca-tion, and Clovis developed several other restaurants throughout the city known as Martin and Son Poor Boy Bar and Restau-rant. Their locations on Gentilly and Airline Highways lasted the longest. Clovis died in 1955, and Martin Brother’s St. Claude restaurant survived into the 1970s. By then the sandwich name had spread far beyond New Orleans.

"You could get a sandwich anywhere, but you could only get a poor boy at Martin Brothers." - Former Fire Superintendent William McCrossen

"Our Meal is free to any members of Division 194. . . . We are with you till h--l freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm."- Bennie and Clovis Martin

Strike Supporters destroy streetcar, Canal Street, 1929 Courtesy of Gendusa Family

1930s Prices15-inch standard: 10 cents 20-inch half-loaf sandwich: 15 cents Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich: Free

Martin Brothers more famous location,corner of Touro & St. Claude, 1932Courtesy of Martin Family

"Between 900 and 1,100 loaves of bread were used every 24 hours and the restaurant was open 24 hours a day. On a Carnival Day over 3000 loaves of bread were used."- Bennie Martin

"We fed those men free of charge until the strike ended. Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming, one of us would say, 'Here comes another poor boy.'" - Bennie Martin

Poor boy sandwiches represent bedrock New Orleans. The shotgun house of New Orleans cuisine, po-boys are familiar but satisfying. The sandwich is as diverse as the city it symbolizes. The crisp loaves have served as a culinary crossroads, encasing the most pedestrian and exotic of foods: shrimp, oyster, catfish, soft-shell crabs as well as French fries and ham and cheese. Comfort food in other cities seldom reaches such heights.

Close-up of 1932 poor boyCourtesy of Martin Family

Martin Brothers Lettercourtesy of Special Collections, Tulane University

Written by Michael Mizell-Nelson. Design by Becky Cierpich/C4 Tech & Design. Production thanks to New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival and Oak Street-Main Street. Join us on Oak Street for the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival every November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Visit us on the web: www.poboyfest.org.

Michael Mizell-Nelson teaches in the University of New Orleans history department. He also oversees the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank project, an online database documenting the impact of Katrina and Rita upon the Gulf Coast: www.hurricanearchive.org.

History New Orleans

Po-Boy

John Gendusa Bakery, Touro StreetCourtesy of John Gendusa

Interior of Martin Brothers' original location, French Market, early 1920sCourtesy of Martin Family

Martin Brothers Poor Boy Tiles in front of St. Claude Avenue Restaurant entrancePhotograph by Cathe Mizell-Nelson, 1995